


it's in the script

by abominableBebop, Coyoteclaw11, d0nquix0te, obsidianlullaby, Salmiakki



Series: HSWC [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Science Fiction, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 16:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abominableBebop/pseuds/abominableBebop, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coyoteclaw11/pseuds/Coyoteclaw11, https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0nquix0te/pseuds/d0nquix0te, https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsidianlullaby/pseuds/obsidianlullaby, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmiakki/pseuds/Salmiakki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After escaping from a compromised transport ship, Roxy and Dirk must survive a barren and infected planet before they can find their way back to safety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's in the script

**Author's Note:**

> team dirkroxy's main round 2 entry for hswc 2013!

Roxy has nearly fallen asleep curled up in the warmth of the pilot’s seat when she finally hears Jane’s static-ridden voice. She bolts up, coming face to face with one of her best friends on the dashboard viewscreen and her iris upgrade works to enhance the image. She puts her hand on the corner of the small, cracked screen, leaning forward. “Janey, it’s you, it’s really you.”

“Roxy! I thought it was a mistake when I got that signal from you. I didn’t want to hope…”

“I know. I’m sorry it took me so long to get the communications back up. Please tell me you and Jake are okay.”

“Oh, yes, we’re doing very well actually.” Jane actually smiles as she talks, an indication that she and Jake have done the impossible by finding somewhere both safe and sustainable. Roxy hasn’t seen a genuine smile on someone’s face in so long. “We landed on a transport moon and were able to board a ship going to Typheus. It was easier to get to Hemera from there! We’re in one of the Untech bases and it’s actually quite nice even if it’s a culture shock. The only reason I still have these glasses is because I hid them in case you contacted me; any other tech devices are taken apart even if someone’s had a full-limb upgrade. What about you and Dirk? I’m guessing not so great if you’re still in that shuttle.”

“That sounds great, Janey.” Roxy sighs and glances around the cramped bridge of the shuttle. “We crashed. I’d had a bit to drink and, well… you know Dirk was in no condition to fly.” Her face falls just from mentioning it, but she tries to keep her tone light as she explains how things have only gotten worse. “He has good days and bad days but the bad days are a lot more frequent. Remember when it first started and he’d space out all the time?” Jane nods again, and the screen flickers, pixelating her face. “That’s how he is most days. Doesn’t like to talk about what’s going on up there.”

Jane bites her lip nervously. “Is he there?”

“Asleep.”

“Hold on, let me get Jake.”

Jane takes her glasses off, breaking the infraprojection image of her face. Everything goes black on Roxy’s screen and her heart rate spikes even as she reassures herself that the image will come back as soon as Jane puts her glasses on again. She nibbles on the end of her nails as she waits.

She breathes a sigh of relief when the projection comes back online, this time with Jake included. Most of his face gets cut from view but Roxy can see from the crinkle under his eye that he’s grinning.

“Hey there English,” she greets.

“Hey there yourself. I hear you didn’t have such a smooth landing.”

“Nah, busted it up. I’ve been fixing this baby for… how long has it been?”

“Nearly three months,” Jane says.

Roxy whistles lowly. “Shit. I lost count after twenty-something days. Anyway, Dirk’s okay in the sense that he isn’t a Revenant, but still having his upgrade makes him think he is.”

Even through the weak reception, Roxy can see Jane wince. “That sounds horrible.”

“I’m scared for him,” Roxy admits, “but I’d never be scared of him. I’ll stay with him to the bitter end if I have to.”

Neither of her friends encourage a more positive outlook. It’s been almost two years since the outbreak and the living know better than to ignore reality for the sake of feeling secure. Instead, Jake asks, “What’s the next step?”

“I’m still fixing the engine. It’s not working enough to get us very far but I’m so close. I found a wreck that should have the last part I need, it’s just likely to be crawling with Revenants.”

“There’s no better option?”

Roxy shakes her head and shrugs as nonchalantly as she can manage. “Like I said. To the bitter end.“

After so long of missing their faces, it’s hard for Roxy to tell them she should go and it’s especially hard to tell Jane to get rid of her old glasses before she gets herself in trouble. She promises that they’ll be able to see each other in person instead, then says her goodbyes and ends the transmission.

Dirk is still asleep when Roxy slides open the door to the main section of the shuttle, though his body jerks with nightmares and she can tell he’s grinding his teeth by the set of his jaw. She crouches beside him and brushes his forehead with cool fingers but it isn’t enough to relax him subconsciously.

Instead, it wakes him up. As his glazed eyes snap open, Dirk grabs Roxy’s wrist to pull her hand away from his face.

“Dirk, it’s just me,” Roxy tells him firmly, trying to bring him back to reality gently before he succumbs to the influence of his infected upgrade and gets blindly violent. “You’re alive and we’re safe.”

Dirk slowly looks up at her and then their surroundings, breaths coming out hard and ragged as he calms down. “Not still… dreaming?”

“Awake, promise. Want to talk about it?”

With a shake of his head, Dirk lets go of Roxy and sits up, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders. “Probably best not to dwell on it.”

Normally Roxy would urge him to talk, to let her help, but in this case the more he loses himself in those thoughts, the harder it is for him to pull himself back out. Roxy leaves it alone. She does still move to sit beside him, cuddling into his side and offering him the companionable warmth of her body against his. He leans in towards her and finally lets out a slow, relaxed breath.

“Just wish I hadn’t made my upgrade on my own. Hal was unorthodox even before the virus outbreak.”

“But if you hadn’t tinkered with it on your own, the defenses wouldn’t have been enough to keep you… as you as you are.”

“I know, we’ve talked about that, but I could have done a better job.”

Roxy nuzzles Dirk’s shoulder. “Shhh, you kept yourself from turning, you might be the only one in the universe who managed that. The second half of the battle should be easy once I get the engine fixed. Jane and Jake are waiting for us.”

Dirk turns his head, trying to catch Roxy’s eye. Talking about their mutual friends is one of the best methods Roxy has for keeping Dirk in his right mind. “Did you manage to connect with them?”

“Yeah, they’re doing fine. And once we meet up with them on Hemera, we’ll be fine too. You’ll be fine.”

*

The day Roxy plans to scour the ruins of someone else’s wrecked ship, Dirk is particularly lucid. He picks at his food, which Roxy suspects has more to do with the bland taste of packaged rations than anything, but his eyes are clear and his muscles relaxed. 

She debates whether or not to tell Dirk what she’s planning, unsure of what his reaction will be. “I need one last part for the engine and then we can finally head for Hemera,” she starts.

Dirk looks up from his thermostabalized mashed potatoes. “Really? That’s… I forgot what you said about the engine.”

“It’s okay,” Roxy says. She’s used to Dirk forgetting their conversations. “I told you what the problem was and you told me which part I needed. Couldn’t have done it without you and your mechanical mumbo jumbo knowledge.”

“Good to know it’s still up here.” Dirk taps his temple. “It’s a bit reassuring.”

“You’re still you,” Roxy insists. She flicks a pea at Dirk’s face and he grins even as he flinches away by instinct. It hits him on the bridge of his nose where his sunglasses used to sit.

“I know. The problem is Hal is me too.”

“Only before he got the virus, you know that. Remember when we fought the Revenants with Jake and Jane after the outbreak? The dead aren’t the same people anymore, they’re just reanimated bodies. A computer virus. Hal was you but he stopped being you when he got infected, you just have to keep your mind separate from his.”

Dirk changes the subject back to the engine. “Know where you’re going to get that part yet?”

Roxy has never been good at lying or hiding things from Dirk. After only a moment of holding back, she spills. “There’s a huge wreck on the other side of town. Ship like that would have an amazing engine, we could fly this shuttle all the way home with parts from that behemoth.”

“Big means Revenants,” Dirk deadpans.

“Yeah, sure does.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Don’t think so, Dirky.”

“Well you’re not going alone and your options are extremely limited. I’m doing fine today, I can cover you. Or I can get the part and you can cover me.”

It’s an alluring idea. Dirk would be so much quicker at finding the right piece and removing it from the wreckage. Roxy knows it wouldn’t be easy for her even without a hoard of living dead trying to tear her to pieces while she’s doing it. They’ve always worked best as a team and if things take a dark turn she’s experienced in both protecting Dirk and fighting him off. Remembering a year past when they used to take down Revenants side by side has Roxy agreeing before she can convince herself it’s a bad idea. “First sign of trouble and we get out.”

“We’ll be in and out before the trouble finds us,” Dirk replies. His face looks brighter than Roxy has seen in a while and it’s worth the nauseating anxiety beginning to curl in the pit of her stomach.

“Eat up, then. We’ll go in an hour or so.”

Dirk obliges and he keeps himself more focused than usual over the course of the next hour. Maybe it’s the prospect of a little action, maybe it’s hope that he can get medical attention on Hemera if they ever make it there, Roxy doesn’t care which, she’s just happy to see him looking healthy again. He straps his katana onto his hip and adjusts his protective gear the exact same way he used to before. Roxy watches Dirk as she gears up herself, loading her guns and making sure the extra ammunition is secure in their pouches across her chest.

“You ready?” she asks. He only nods in return, going into a battle mindset. “Good. Let’s get this done.”

The satellite they’d crashed on is small. From what Roxy has seen, the population was well off and as a result they had more upgrades than most people had the money for. The virus could easily have spread until either everyone was infected or there were enough infected that they tore the rest of the people apart in a glitched, rabid frenzy. It’s blissfully quiet like a ghost town rather than a planet still in the thick of battle. This satellite has lost the battle and the Revenants have been dormant for a time. Still, they stick to the shadows and keep quiet as Roxy leads the way across the dark and crumbling city. Some high rises have completely collapsed on themselves and left the streets full of debris to navigate but Dirk never falters.

The wreckage is at the edge of the city, just short of the spacecraft hanger it was surely headed for. Roxy’s already scouted it for a way in and takes Dirk to it before coming to a stop. “That’s the only unblocked entrance. We’ll have to find the engine room from inside.”

“No problem,” Dirk replies.

Roxy looks at him for a second, inspecting the permanent bags under his eyes and the weary frown on his lips. He looks determined despite both but Roxy still worries. “Are you sure? I could go in alone, you can just be back up.”

“I can’t have your back from out here.” Without further discussion, he starts climbing over the broken steel parts towards the hole in the ship. Roxy quickly catches up and reclaims the lead, unsheathing a knife from her sleeve as she quietly steps inside. A thick layer of dirt and dust crunches under her steps so she moves slowly, quiet like a cat, with Dirk right behind her.

They enter some kind of dining hall. The tables are long to fit a large number of passengers and there are computer screens fitted into the surface at nearly every chair. Roxy smells the group of passengers before she sees them, all around one table in the middle of the room. The stench of decomposing flesh is strong and the table and floor is coated red. One of them stirs, lifting its head off the bloodied table and turning towards them. Dirk freezes, already noticing a red light over the Revenant’s ear that signifies an AI upgrade much like his own. Roxy recognizes the glazed look in Dirk’s eyes and shoves her knife through the Revenant’s chip hurriedly then pulls Dirk away from the triggering scene.

They keep moving. Everything is quiet and empty until they reach the cargo bay and Roxy is so startled that she stops mid-step and Dirk bumps into her. From the walkway above they can see a crowd of bloodied and rotting Revenants below, ambling about or leaned up against the outer walls. Roxy’s vision zooms in and she can see all sorts of upgrades that could have gone wrong from bionic arms to music-playing piercings.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Roxy starts creeping along the walkway to get to the other side of the room where the hallway continues to the rest of the ship. Dirk puts a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze to remind her that’s he’s there before he lets go.

Every little noise either of them makes sounds deafening to Roxy’s alert ears, but she keeps pushing forward. They need this engine part and there’s no other way to get it, so they’ll succeed or go down fighting. She’s promised herself that she would get Dirk whatever help he needs and the way to do it is fix the shuttle engine.

It goes smoothly until a rusted bolt gives way under their combined weight, causing a section of the walkway to dislodge with a cacophonous clanking. “Shit.” Dirk reflexively pushes Roxy forward onto the next floor panel before he tumbles back on the falling steel. Roxy twirls around and grabs his arm, stopping him from falling all the way into the bay below. The Revenants have turned towards the sound, growling and snapping their jaws as they clamber towards them and the room becomes lit by the several tiny red lights of systems rebooting themselves and pushing their hosts to move faster.

“Don’t let go, don’t let go,” Roxy mutters as she grips Dirk’s arm, using all her strength to pull him back up on the walkway. As soon as he’s close enough to grab hold of the railing, he hurriedly pushes her along again.

“Go, quickly.”

Roxy makes sure he’s got both feet on the walkway before sprinting ahead. She can hear the clanging of his footfalls behind her and she doesn’t look back until she reaches the entrance to the next hall. Behind Dirk, Revenants have caused a bottleneck on the steps up to the walkway but it only slows them down for a moment. The sound of them clawing at each other nearly makes Roxy sick.

Dirk pulls the sliding door shut and they take off again down the hall. “This way,” Dirk calls as he takes the lead and makes a turn. It’s been a long time since they were on equal ground leadership-wise, but Roxy still trusts Dirk more than she’s ever trusted another and she doesn’t question his judgement. She falls into line behind him and lets him direct her towards their goal. He finds the engine room and hops over a workbench to get into the middle of the room, surrounded by huge machinery.

“We need the flux piston, right?”

“Think that’s what you called it, yeah.” Roxy stays at the door, rifle already in her hands and aimed down the hall. She hears Dirk fiddling with parts and her curiosity makes her want to watch him at work like she has been able to in the past, but she keeps her eyes trained forward for the inevitable moment when the Revenants catch up.

It doesn’t take them long. Roxy uses her sight to perfect her aim and fires shots in all the right spots. Chest rewiring, AI implant, forearm devices. She reloads with expert swiftness but the hoard is still a lot for one person. “Any luck there, Dirk? I can’t hold them much longer.”

“I’ve got it, it’s just stuck. Give me a sec.”

The hoard reaches the door and Roxy’s only option is pulling it closed in front of them, struggling against bloody, scrabbling arms. She knocks them back with the end of her rifle and slams it shut with a huff. The Revenants bang and scratch at the metal, making it quake in the hinges as Roxy jumps over the mess Dirk has left on the floor. Just then, he dislodges the part they need.

“Now what?” he asks.

“Crap. Escaping, that’s important. One of the most important things, we should have planned this, oh shit.”

“Ladder.”

“What?”

Dirk hauls himself up on top of the engine and pulls a sliding panel off the ceiling. “It goes up to the bridge, it’s for easy communication between the pilot and—”

“Save the lesson for later, let’s go!” Roxy shoves Dirk towards it. He starts to climb and just as Roxy is about to follow, the door gives way and Revenants pile in. One grabs at her ankle and she stamps her foot into its head, causing it to drop back into the crowd. Before another can get a hold on her, she climbs. Dirk is still on the ladder when she catches up. “Why’re we stopping? Stopping is bad!”

The sudden explosion is all the answer Roxy needs. As soon as it’s over, Dirk climbs into the bridge, now with a gaping hole where the glass used to be.

“Grenade, nice thinking,” Roxy calls as they climb over the debris and out of the ship. For good measure, she unclips another grenade and throws it through the hole to destroy some of their pursuers. The noise is sure to attract more Revenants from within the city so they run into the outskirts, taking the long way around.

Dirk is still holding the engine part under his arm as they keep up the pace. “Want to trade off with that?” Roxy asks between laboured breaths.

“I got it.” Dirk’s face looks determined, gaze set forward as they make their way towards the shuttle. Roxy decides not to question him, saving her energy for the journey back to the only place they can call home.

Before going inside, she makes them watch for any Revenants still on their trail until she’s convinced they made a mostly clean getaway. They’re both sweaty, dirty, and covered in scratches, but other than Roxy’s ankle, they’re miraculously unscathed. They collapse in the main room of their shuttle and take the time to catch their breath before falling into a routine Roxy thought was way behind them. They take out their first aid pack and quietly patch each other up.

After, when they’re cleaned up and the engine part is ready to be implanted in the morning, Roxy asks, “What happened with you back there? You know I don’t bullshit with you so I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You haven’t functioned that well since Hal got the virus. How? Adrenaline, hope?”

Dirk takes a moment to think about it and when he doesn’t have the answer right away, Roxy worries he’s slipped inward again, letting Hal take over. Eventually Dirk does answer and he still sounds like himself when he speaks. “I wanted to protect you like you’ve protected me. Hal doesn’t think like that. It’s the most important distinction between us.”

Roxy smiles and takes Dirk’s hand, rubbing her thumb over his calloused knuckles. “I suppose this isn’t something corrupt script can understand.”

“No,” Dirk agrees. “And I’m not script.”


End file.
